I refer to the news item entitled “Zejtun opposes gambling shop in neighbourhood” (TMIS, 7 June) and would like to express my condemnation of gambling shops in any locality.

Malta has enough problems as it is and I think that we should not create others or exacerbate the ones that already exist.

Gambling can turn out to be a national scourge. Many individuals and lots of families have been ruined by the practice. I have seen “stars biting the dust” as a result of gambling.

May the Zejtun local council be the pioneer in using its power and influence to support the prohibition of this iniquity. All Church and local political groups representing the people of Zejtun seem to be unanimous in this regard. We can be tough at times, according to the reputation we have, but the citizens of 21st century Zejtun are basically honest and family-loving people, who can lead by example.

If we allow gambling in the name of democracy and freedom, we might just as well permit grievous bodily self-harm and various other types of madness.

Common sense dictates that gambling should be prohibited. It is high time to consider whether official lotteries and public lotto should also be closed down; they are a few of the factors that are slowing down our progress to build a better society.

Let us not take bigger nations as our models. They too have their unstable side. We must have faith in our own convictions, shaped by centuries of honest endeavours, and fearlessly behave accordingly.

Carmelo Palmier Cecy

ZEJTUN